


The Saltiest Breathing Of Them All

by MusicPlotter



Series: Whumptober 2019 [16]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Dobby (Harry Potter) Lives, Don't copy to another site, Gen, No.16 Pinned Down, POV Draco Malfoy, Whumptober 2019
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-19
Updated: 2019-10-19
Packaged: 2020-12-24 09:14:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 325
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21097025
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MusicPlotter/pseuds/MusicPlotter
Summary: Draco refuses to be pinned down by his family any longer.





	The Saltiest Breathing Of Them All

His whole life, Draco Malfoy hadn’t been able to breathe.

Oh sure, he could breathe in the air around him, hold it in for a second and then release it. But he couldn’t  _ breathe _ .

When he was younger he hadn’t known the difference between breathing and  _ breathing _ , hadn’t realised that he was living a half-life, that he was barely living at all.

When he came to Hogwarts and he saw the people on the other tables, laughing and smiling, free to do as they wish, free to  _ breathe,  _ he had finally realised that simply pulling the air into your lungs wasn’t enough to truly live.

At first, he had envied Potter, no parents around to stop him from doing what he wanted, no one there to prevent him from living life fully. Recently, he had been forced to grow up and had seen that having no one there also meant that Potter had  _ no one there. _ No one to care when he injured himself, no one to care when he won a Quidditch match, no one at all. Initially, the guilt had almost made him crumble to the floor. Now he realised there was something more he could do than just let the guilt consume him.

His whole life, his parents’ expectations and wishes had pinned him down, had tightened his chest so that he could only manage short breaths, had only been able to breathe - never  _ breathe.  _ But he had had enough.

So when his old house-elf appeared to take away the prisoners from his Manor, he threw a stunning curse at his aunt, stopping her from throwing the knife at them and took the hand that Potter held out to him.

As they appeared in front of the ocean, Draco finally  _ breathed  _ for the first time and wasn’t disappointed when his lungs felt clearer and fuller than they ever had before. 

He let out a laugh of pure relief.

He was finally free.

  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> I really struggled with this one even though it’s so short. I had a plan for it but scrapped the plan and wrote something completely different in a different fandom, so it has set me back in terms of catching up in Whumptober.
> 
> Still, there’s one day left in the weekend and then I have exams. After that I’ll have a couple more days off so hopefully, I’ll be able to catch up before the 31st. If you’re reading in the future, I guess you’ll already know and I envy you.
> 
> Anyway, thank you for reading and let me know what you think about this one <3
> 
> If you want a chat, find me [here](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/musicplotter) on Tumblr!


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